Compared with the previous generation of DSCs, the new dsPIC33EP “GS” devices provide less than half the latency, when used in a three-pole three-zero compensator, and consume up to 80% less power in any application.

This new dsPIC33EP “GS” family includes advanced features such as Live Update Flash capability, which is especially helpful for high-availability or “always-on” systems. Live Update can be used to change the firmware of an operating power supply, including the active compensator calculation code, while maintaining continuous regulation. Variants from this new digital-power-optimized DSC family are available in an industry’s-smallest, 4 x 4 mm UQFN package for space-constrained designs.

Other key features of this family include up to five 12-bit ADCs with as many as 22 ADC inputs, providing total throughput of 16 Mega samples per second (Msps) with a 300 ns ADC latency. The dsPIC33EP “GS” devices include 12-bit DACs for each of the four analog comparators, for higher-precision designs. The two on-chip programmable gain amplifiers can be used for current sensing and other precision measurements. Including these advanced analog amplifiers on the device reduces the number of external components required, thereby saving cost and board space.

“Customer adoption of our existing dsPIC33 digital power families has been outstanding, with design wins in a wide range of power-conversion products, globally,” said Joe Thomsen, vice president of Microchip’s MCU16 Division. “The new dsPIC33EP “GS” family builds upon that success by offering more performance and integrated features, allowing next-generation designs to achieve higher efficiency and more compact form factors.”